The UNCW volleyball team kicked off its season with The Battle at the Beach tournament at Hanover gym last weekend. The Seahawks placed second, winning two of three matches against Hartford and North Carolina A&T. Their lone loss came to tournament champs Radford who took The Battle at the Beach by storm going 3-0.

In UNCW’s opening match against Radford, the Seahawks looked as if they were beginning the new season the same way they finished the last. The Seahawks struggled to match Radford’s intensity and failed to take advantage when the Highlanders made mistakes. In the first two games of the match, UNCW managed to come back from deficits as big as five, but failed to take the lead and put Radford away, falling 3-1.

However, in the next two matches, UNCW demonstrated the new and optimistic attitude of the 2008 Seahawks. After losing the opening game, the Seahawks rallied back to win the next three to send Hartford packing. They then capped off the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of North Carolina A&T.

The Seahawks finished the tournament winning six straight games and have started off the season with a great deal of momentum. Sophomore Rachael Caricato and junior Anna Price were awarded with all-tournament honors. Price, a two time Battle at the Beach all-tournament player, has high hopes for this year.

“We are a lot more confident this year. When we are on the floor we don’t want to win, we expect to win,” she said.

The Seahawks have plenty to be confident about. They are returning six starters from last year, which makes up 92.5 percent of their team’s total points. Price noted the big advantage of having the same core group of players.

“We are a lot more experienced this year,” she said. “We all know each other so well and communicate great with one another. Volleyball is a game that relies heavily on communication, so I think we have an advantage there.”

The Seahawks hope the last two matches of the tournament will be an example of their play for the rest of the season. Last year’s team went 8-23, winning only one conference match. Sophomore Keri Hogan believes the team has put the 2007 season behind them and is ready to prove people wrong.

“We are tired of people taking us for granted,” she said. “We have a mature team with lots of court experience. That, added with our solid group of freshmen, will hopefully give us the best record UNCW volleyball has ever seen.”

The biggest problem the Seahawks faced in 2007, as well as the Radford match, was closing out games.

“We need to finish games,” Hogan said. “Often we will be the first team to 20, but fall apart in the last five points. I think that is something this team is much better at however.”

Despite last season’s disappointing conference slate, the Seahawks have made qualifying for the conference playoffs their top priority.

“We chant ‘CAA’ in every team huddle,” Price said. “We know we can do it.”